


A Lion's Calling

by agrusahale



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Kuron is Shiro (Voltron)'s Clone, M/M, Minor Keith/Lance (Voltron), White Lion - Freeform, White Paladin Lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 18:40:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15588246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agrusahale/pseuds/agrusahale
Summary: After recovering Shiro, Lance is the Odd Paladin out, with too many Paladins for the number of Lions. That is, Until Lance makes a startling discovery on a coalition planet's moon





	1. Suspicion

**Author's Note:**

> An Alternate take on Season 6

“Like I’m not myself.”

Lance furrows his eyebrows in deep thought as Shiro’s words keep rewinding inside his mind. He crosses his arms over his chest, thumb unconsciously rubbing the side of his forearm as he let his mind wander.

It’s been a few weeks since...everything. It’s still a little hard to grasp the recent events and while the team have been able to find a solution for every problem they have faced during those weeks, there’s this one thorn that still bothers Lance’s mind.

He tries to discard it, classify it like paranoia or overthinking and be done with it, but he can’t. The thorn digs deeper inside him every time Shiro merely looks at him.

It’s there whenever Shiro tenses at the slightest touch or when it takes a few tries for him to react to his own name. There’s something behind those gray eyes that tells Lance something is wrong. He can feel it in his gut, twisting and tugging hard against him everytime he tries to ignore it.

“Not myself,” Shiro had said and Lance is starting to believe him.

“Lance? Lance, dude!”

Lance snaps back, eyes widening in surprise and blinking when he catches both of Pidge and

Hunk’s eyes on him, looking at him bemused and slightly concerned.

“You okay?” Hunk asks quietly, leaning closer to the brunet and huffing when Pidge drops herself on his back unannounced to get a better look at Lance.

“Yeah, you looked a little constipated there,” Pidge says, pushing her glasses up to rest on top of her head before she wiggles her eyebrows. “Aw, were you thinking about Allura and how close she is with Prince Lotion?”

Lance rolls his eyes at the mention of the Galra Prince. “No but thanks for the annoying thought.”

“Then, what is it?” Hunk asks confused, groaning as Pidge pushes him further down with her weight. “Pidge.”

Lance chuckles, shaking his head at his friends before he stands up and waves a nonchalant hand at them. “Don’t worry about it; it’s nothing important.”

He ignores his friend’s calling because as soon as he turns around, Hunk and Pidge start up their wrestle match as Hunk tries to get Pidge off him. Lance smiles and shoves his hands deep into his jeans’ pockets.

Now, where on earth is Coran?

“Astral plane?” Lance repeats slowly Coran’s words and hums when the Altean nods proudly back at him.

“That’s right, my boy! The astral plane is known to be the ultimate level of bonding with your lion. It’s the core of said bond and also what strengthens it.”

“So, that time when we all put our bayards at the same time,” Lance says quietly, eyebrow furrowed in concentration as he recalls the event. “We managed to get to Voltron’s core?”

Corans nods. “Each lion have their own astral plane but when a connection is made between Paladins, they can all co-exist on the same astral place.”

“How do I do that?” Lance asks worriedly, offering a weak smile when Coran gives him an odd look at the question.

“Both Paladins at hand must have a close connection,” Coran replies easily. “There must be a blinding trust between each other and one of them ought to make an invitation first, for the other to enter.”

Lance groans and drops his face on the console near him, grumbling under his breath at the news. Great, and how the heck is he supposed to make Shiro to invite him to wiggle inside his mind if he didn’t even remember doing it the first time?

“May I ask why the sudden interest on the topic, my boy?” Coran asks concerned, arching an eyebrow at the teenager when Lance waves a hand at him.

“Just something that has been on my mind lately,” He answers sourly before he takes a deep breath and pushes himself back, smiling gratefully at the older Altean. “Thank for the info, Coran.”

“And where you going now?” Coran chuckles as he crosses his arms and watches the teen leave. Lance half turns, still walking towards the exit backwards but meeting Coran’s eye.

“I gotta make a call.”

“You want to what?”

Lance groans, dragging his hands over his face painfully. “Mullet, I swear if you make me repeat my entire meta of why I think Shiro’s not Shiro, I’m going to throw myself into the airlock, don’t test me.”

Keith’s expression on the screen turns from confusion to scandalize at the words. “Lance.”

“I’m kidding, kind of, not really, anyways,” Lance rambles, shaking his free hand in front of his communicator. “Just for one movement, Keith, please. I can’t - Shiro would never allow me to be in his astral plane thingy but maybe if you manage to bond with Black, she will let you in and then you would let me in!”

“But I never had the bond Shiro had with Black! I only lasted a few movements as the Black Paladin, Lance.” Keith says incredulous, sighing as he runs a hand over his hair and leans back.

Lance vaguely notices the lack of chest plate on his friend’s body before Keith’s eyes are back on him. “Are you sure about this?”

Lance bites his lower lip tightly. “I’m sorry, Keith, but I really am. I wish I wasn't but...I need your help to be sure. For everyone’s safety.”

Keith purses his lips in thought as he leans back, his own communicator still propped by his pulled up knee. Lance waits patiently for his answer, thumb starting to rub against his forearm anxiously.

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?” Lance sighs, dropping his head on his free hand. “I mean, I wouldn’t blame you, I -”

“Lance,” Keith cuts in, not harshly but there’s this strong vibe on the words that shuts Lance right up. Keith waits until Lance’s eyes meet his own again to continue, his gaze never wavering. “I trust you.”

Lance’s stomach flips at the words before he looks away and rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Oh, okay, I - okay.”

Keith looks amused by his reaction for half a tick before he nods seriously. “Okay, I will talk with

Kolivan and Krolia tonight. I will get back at you later, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine, I will just -” Lance stops abruptly and furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “Wait, who’s Krolia?”

“Oh, that’s my mom.”

“Your what?”


	2. The Clone

“Mullet, can you, I don’t know, maybe stop stepping on me as I try to walk? This is the third time you ‘accidentally’ take my shoe off.”

“I keep telling you to not use them so loosely! That’s what the damn shoelaces are for.”

“Your boots have a zipper, Keith. You can’t talk to me about shoelaces.”

Keith makes a face, mouth already half open to reply but Lance quickly shushes him, placing his hand over the other teen’s mouth.

“Shh,” Lance says quietly, looking around the corner to see if there’s anything around before he sighs and takes his hand off Keith’s mouth. “Okay, enough goofing around, Keith. We gotta get to Black before the meeting’s over.”

Keith rolls his eyes and grumbles something under his breath that Lance ignores. Instead, he waves his hand and silently tells Keith to follow him. Keith does, standing up nonchalantly while Lance tries to be a ninja. He fails.

“Lance, can you, please, get up from the floor?” Keith sighs, shaking his head in half amusement as Lance slams his back against the wall and slides.

“Uh, no? We’re on a stealth mission, Keith.”

“Their meeting is like 20 floors up, Lance. They can’t see us.”

“We don’t know how clones work, though.”

Keith groans, walking faster to stand besides Lance and slaps him repeatedly on the arm, urging him to stand up. Lance yelps and rubs the side of his assaulted arm with a pout and a glare.

“Come on.” Keith says, waving the brunet’s cursing off and heads towards Black’s hangar.

“Okay, we got that part done,” Lance mumbles, taking a deep breathe before he heads towards one of the side doors on the hangar. “I’m gonna go to Red. I will open up a comlink once I’m inside.”

Keith nods silently. Lance waits until Keith takes a hesitant step towards Black to leave.

“Hey, boy,” Lance greets softly once Red’s hangar door opens, doing a small playful salute with two of his fingers as he steps inside the lion and settles down on the pilot’s seat. “Let’s pray that this actually works.”

Red comes to life with a soft purr, nudging Lance’s mind as a greeting. Lance nudges back gently, mumbling under his breath before he works on the dashboard and opens up a new commlink with Black.

His heart hammers against his chest as he waits for Keith to answer. Lance’s leg bounces anxiously against the floor, a million thoughts going through his mind. What if the meeting Shiro and Allura were having with Kolivan ends up early? What if they request their presence? What if Black doesn’t accept Keith?

All of his worries are thrown over the window once Keith’s face pops up in front of him.

“You look a little shaky there,” Lance tries to joke and it earns him a faint chuckle. It’s better than nothing.

“It’s been a while since I was on one of these seats,” Keith says quietly, looking around Black as if it was the first time inside before he sighs. “Alright, that’s done. What’s next?”

“We bond,” Lance replies softly, biting the inside of his cheek. “That’s...all I got.”

“It’s the best we got,” Keith says before he nods. “It will work.”

“It has to work,” Lance mumbles and then closes his eyes, hands gripping Red’s controls tightly as he concentrates.

Lance allows Red to guides him through, following every purr, growl and nudge inside his mind. Soon enough he can feel a familiar presence, a small flame that he recognizes instantly and then Lance reaching out.

There’s a heavy feeling of warmth and comfort. It’s a feeling of blind trust for each other and Lance feels breathless. Keith’s memories and emotions mix themselves up with his own, twirling around them like a hurricane, clicking together as they hold on tight to the feeling. Flashes of previous missions and quiet moments pass in front of them and Lance’s hold tightens.

As quick as it comes, it goes. Lance opens his eyes slowly, waiting two ticks for them to settle before he looks around him.

Keith’s hand is wrapped around his own on a tight grip. Lance pushes down the giddy feeling on his stomach at the sight of their intertwined hands and the lovely contrast their skin have on each other’s.

“Did it work?” Keith whispers softly, swallowing nervously but holding his eyes high in alert as he looks around. Lance makes a small sound on the back of his throat and offers a small shrug.

Both Black and Red hover above them at ease, providing gentle purs to bring comfort and calm to their respective Paladin. It helps to settle both Lance and Keith’s heart, feeling less lost.

The ground is a reflection of the sky above them and Lance’s taken away by the beauty the mixture of black and purple it gives out naturally, several stars twirling without a care as they shoot themselves across the entire plane.

Lance swallows, squeezing Keith’s hand in ressurance. “Maybe? It feels familiar, somehow, like -”

“Lance? Keith?”

Lance’s words quickly die on his lips as soon as the new voice appears behind them. He feels Keith tighten his grip around his hand, grounding him in less than a tick before he catches Keith’s gaze from the corner of his eye and then gently nods.

They turn around at the same time and their shoulders don’t drop in relief until Shiro, their Shiro, beams at them happily.

It worked.

“I told you!” Lance shouts, throwing his hands in the air before pointing them towards Shiro and shaking them strongly, as if to make emphasis on the man in front of them. “I quiznacking told you!”

“Lance,” Keith complains, yelping when Lance grabs him by the arm and starts shaking him, loud cheers echoing around them.

Meanwhile, Shiro stares at both of his teammates before he sighs heavy with relief and throws his head back, a soft pure laugh escaping his lips as a weight is lifted off his shoulders.

‘Thank you, Black,’ Shiro thinks fondly, his eyes catching the glimpse of the two astral stars above them he has memorized since day one before they fall down on the two teenagers in front of him.

‘You were right.’

‘Fire against fire,’ Shiro had told them in the astral plane. ‘Magic against magic. Allura is the key to defeat Haggar’s control.’

Allura, of course, is skeptical.

“Are you two certain about this?” She asks quietly, eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

Lance nods. “‘Llura, you said it yourself. You said Shiro hadn’t been himself, and you were right because he isn’t Shiro.”

“But a clone?” Allura asks bewildered.

“It’s not a wild concept,” Pidge chimes in, pulling her glasses higher on her nose as she types on her laptop. “We fly giant mechanic cats on a daily basis and have traveled to another universe. Clones are the not that hard to believe.”

“Does anyone feels like we’re always the target for stuff like this?” Hunk deadpans tiredly, throwing another goo cookie to his mouth. “I mean, honestly, what are the probabilities?”

“We don’t have time for this,” Keith stresses out in frustration, brushing Lance’s hand on his shoulder when the brunet tries to pulls him back. “We are running against the clock. We need to take the clone down, now.”

Lance steps forward, placing his hand over Allura’s shoulder and squeezing reassuringly. “Allura, it’s the only way we can break Haggar’s spell on Shiro Clone.”

“The poor guy needs a name,” Pidge shakes her head in disbelief.

“Kuron?” Hunk offers, “It’s ‘clone’ in Japanese.”

“Jesus, rub it on the guy’s face, why don’t you?” Pidge scoffs, rolling her eyes. “I would go for Kuro, it means ‘black’ and it would be, you know, ironic because Shiro means ‘white’.”

“What do you say?” Lance asks softly, ignoring his friends. Allura holds his gaze, eyes looking for something inside his own and then she sighs and nods reluctantly.

“We need a plan,” She says and Lance smirks.

“Already on it, Princess.”

It’s harder than what they expected.

“Allura, now!” Lance shouts, yelping as he ducks just in time to avoid Kuro’s hand. Kolivan is quick to grab him and hold him back, with the help of Hunk on the other side.

Lance joins in, restraining the clone long enough for Keith and Pidge to get the locks in place. Once the bracelets are on Kuro’s wrist and ankles, Coran quickly activates them and the team steps back.

Kuro falls to his knees, a inhuman growl escaping his lips as his throws his head back and tries to reach them. Lance’s blood turns cold when vivid yellow eyes focus on him, any evidence of humanity wiped away and leaving behind the eyes of a puppet.

Allura waste no time. She places her hand over Kuro’s head, an old altean chant they were able to find leaving her lips like water.

Everyone holds their place, standing ready for the moment the plan goes sideways, but it never comes. Instead, there’s a sharp light followed by a faint blue glow coming from Allura and quickly injecting itself inside Kuro.

The Black Lion behind them comes to live at the same time, a loud roar making the entire hangar shake at its force. It takes less than tick before it all disappears and everything is left in silence.

Before them lay two bodies, identical in built and form. The entire team’s heart hammers against their chest as one of the bodies slowly shifts.

“Shiro?” Keith calls slowly, taking a small step forward towards the fallen man.

Lance holds his breath, tightening his grip around his bayard as Keith gets closer and one of the men on the floor finally turns around.

Human gray eyes land on each and every single one of them and the tension leave their bodies at once. Shiro laughs in relief, eyes quickly filling themselves with unshed tears as he waves awkwardly from his place on the ground and then yelps when five bodies slam themselves against him.

“Good to have you back, sir.” Lance mumbles into the hug, heart fluttering contently when he hears

Shiro sigh.

“Good to be back.”


	3. Paladins

Lance crosses his arms over his chest as he stares at Kuro sleeping form inside the crypod. He can still hear the rest of the team behind him, arguing about what would be of Kuro now that he’s off Haggar’s control.

“Shouldn’t it be his choice, though?” Lance hears Hunk say, catching on with the conversation easily enough. “I mean, the guy has been through a lot and every choice he has made in the past was dictated by someone else. He should have this chance to decide what he’s going to do.”

“And he will, we just need to widen our horizons and see what would help him the most,” Shiro steps in, arms crossed over his chest as he speaks before he turns and meets Kolivan’s eye. “Kolivan, you mentioned earlier that Kuro could be an valued asset inside the Blade, correct?”

Kolivan nods. “His abilities and knowledge of the Empire can be helpful on our future plans. If he wishes so, the Blade offers sanctuary for him.”

Allura sighs, rubbing her arms. “Alright, so we wait for him to wake up. Coran, how much longer?”

“A few more vargas, Princess.”

“In the meantime,” Shiro says, uncrossing his arms and taking a deep breath. “Everyone go ease up. I’ll be in Black’s hangar if anyone needs me.”

“I will come with you.” Allura smiles, hand over Shiro’s shoulders. Shiro nods with a small smile and then leave.

Lance watches them go from the corner of his eye, the rest of the team following right after to do their own thing.

Lance hums quietly to himself before he turns around, nudging Keith with his elbow playfully on the side. “Hey, are you up for a quick joyride on Red? He almost bite me off last time because, apparently, I’m ‘hogging’ you all to myself.”

Keith snorts loudly at that, one of his hands covering half do his face as he shakes with laughter.

“Well, is he wrong?” He asks as he nods with a playful smirk and starts walking towards Red’s hangar.

“Guess not,” Lance mumbles with a soft smile before he jogs to catch on with Keith.

They sit on Red’s head as they watch the second sun of Olkary set in front of them. Neither of them talks, comfortable with the silence between them as they stare at the view.

From his right, Lance hears Keith sigh softly, and it’s the small sound that finally draws the brunet out of the sun and his eyes settle down on Keith.

Keith doesn’t meet his stare. Instead, he hums quietly to himself, eyes never leaving the sunset before them as he gently places his hand down on Red’s surface and starts stroking it fondly.

The reaction is almost immediate and Lance’s heart tugs painfully at the happy warm purring Red does at Keith’s quiet show of affection.

It’s a sight to behold; seeing Keith with his shoulders at ease and a small content smile on his lips.

Lance takes it in, making sure to memorize it and save it on the back of his mind. He can feel Red’s amusement at his thought but Lance waves him off playfully, hoping that the small interaction doesn’t reach Keith.

‘This is where he belongs,’ Lance thinks as he swallows down the lump in his throat. ‘This is his place, not mine.’

Suddenly, Keith’s eyes widen and looks down at Red, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he listens before he turns and stares at Lance.

“Lance? What’s up?”

Lance offers him a shaky smile as answer.

Black roars and the entire team collectively feels lighter.

Shiro looks different as he steps out of Black; he walks straighter, making him look taller and more sure of himself. It’s the sight of a man that has been through hell and back, head up high at the world, daring it to throw its next punch.

It’s the sight of their leader that fill the entire team with hope and pride. Everyone cheer for him as he stands before them, holding out for two ticks before arms and legs are all over the poor man but he doesn't complain, he takes in the praise with opens arms along with his teammates’ bodies and holds them close.

Lance smiles as he steps back from the hug. He watches as Kolivan steps forward then along with Krolia, giving his praise with a small nod before he asks for a quick debrief to discuss future plans now that Kuro was awake.

Allura and Shiro quickly accept, already talking out of the hangar to start their meeting. Lance stays back, heart tugging at the sight of Krolia cupping Keith’s face tenderly before she follows the group.

Keith stands at the entrance after his mom leaves and the door closes. No paladin armor, no marmorite armor. Just Keith with a pair of old jeans, black shirt and red jacket wrapped around his waist.

Lance makes his way over to him as he whistles, hands shoved deep into his own jacket. He stands next to his friend, humming under his breath until Keith rolls his eyes and turns, hand over his hip as he glares at Lance without heat.

“Okay, spit it out.”

Lance chuckles. “Nothing! I was just thinking -”

“Dangerous game.”

“Imma ignore that. I was thinking that with Kuro possible joining the Blade, you could...” Lance trails off, his jacket pockets moving with his hands as he tries to get his point across.

Keith raises an eyebrow at him. “I could?”

“Come back to the team,” Lance confesses quietly, a small shy smile decorating his face. “Come back to us, back in Red.”

Keith looks taken back at the words. “But that’s -”

“One Paladin too many. I know, buddy,” Lance says softly, “but the team needs a Red Paladin.”

“They have a Red Paladin.”

Lance shakes his head. “They need the better version.”

“Lance -”

A sharp roar cuts Keith off. Both teens blink in surprise, easily recognizing Red’s calling and then their eyes meet.

“Red’s calling you,” They say at the same time, both making a face as they echo each other before Keith huffs and grabs Lance by the arm, and pulls him towards the exit to head towards Red’s hangar.

“He’s calling both of us,” Keith mumbles, grip never lessing around Lance’s arm. “Come on.”

Lance follows in silence.

“He’s stubborn, huh?” Lance mumbles grumpily but he strokes Red’s handles with affection.

Keith chuckles softly behind him, Red Paladin armor hugging his frame like the very first day he wore it. It’s a sight that settles on Lance’s heart easily. “You are his paladin. Of course he’s going to be stubborn to let you go.”

“You’re his paladin too, though,” Lance says quietly, taking his helmet off as Keith leans against the pilot seat.

“I know, that’s why I’m here, no?”

Lance hums, nodding in silence as he stares at Red’s dashboard. Red purrs in his mind in comfort, easing up his doubts about this whole improvised plan of co-piloting.

“How would it even work?” Lance mumbles, looking over his shoulder to meet Keith’s eye. Keith arches an eyebrow at him before he shrugs and shoots him a smirk.

“I’m not sure, but hey,” he reaches his hand over Lance’s shoulder and squeezes tight. “We get to find out together.”

Lance likes the sound of that.

Lance leans back on his seat once the door closes behind the new potential coalition's leaders from the galaxy they’re currently visiting and sighs contently when his back pops.

“Ah, yeah, that’s the spot,” Lance hums, small crooked smile in his lips as he sinks into his chair and turns his head to the side, meeting Coran’s eyes. “I say that went well.”

Coran hums, a fond proud smile decorating his lips as he nods. “Indeed it did, my boy. Your input on the Gallathen’s growth surely convinced them to be an more active asset inside the coalition. I was quite impressed myself.”

“What can I say? No many can resist my charm,” Lance jokes, playfully winking at Coran. The Altean’s advisor tilts his head to the side in amusement as he narrows his eyes playfully.

“While that might be true,” Coran starts warmly, “I believe it’s the simple fact that you have become an excellent diplomat what has won us many new alliances in the past few movements.”

Lance blinks before he flushes and rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Ah, Coran, you’re just saying that. I’m just trying to, you know, be useful in between missions.”

Coran hums before he reaches out and places one hand over Lance’s shoulder. “Oh, my boy, give yourself more credit. You surely deserve it.”

Lance’s smile softens. “I - Okay, yeah. Thank you, Coran. It, it really means a lot.”

Coran squeezes his shoulder in reassurance. “I know. Just like I know these past few movement have been hard, considering the recent developments.”

“Bet the universe didn’t expected to see the day there’d be six paladins, huh? Especially where two of them co-pilot one of the lions,” Lance says, finally raising from his seat and throwing his arm over Coran’s shoulders. “Which reminds me, how much longer until they come back? Kolivan is basically stepping on my tail waiting for Keith’s return so they can start planning their next mission.”

Coran brushes his mustache in thought before he pulls out his tablet. “Excellent question, my boy. According with Number One’s last report, they shall be arriving -”

The rest of Coran’s sentence is tuned out as the familiar roar of Red echoes in Lance’s mind and then the clear shape of Voltron in all its glory fly past them on the bridge’s window.

“About right now?” Lance asks playfully, “Come on, let meet them at the bridge.”


	4. The Moon

“An invitation?” Lance echoes, eyebrow arched at Allura as the Princess nods excited before him, still in her Paladin armor.

“Yes! The Queen herself wanted to thank us properly with a honorary ball later tonight,” Allura says, smile never dimming in the slightest. “Oh, I have heard from Father so many wonderful things about the Kamen’s culture, this is such an opportunity!”

Shiro chuckles next to her. “I will radio in Olia so she and Matt can come to talk about the Queen’s offer.”

“What offer?” Lance asks curiously.

“She wants to make Kamen’s a rebel base!” Pidge chips in, tablet already out as she opens the planet’s surface. “We suggested one of the moons they have orbiting near the capital, but the Queen didn’t look that convinced.”

“Ah, yes, Kamen’s moon are quite the treasure things for their inhabitants,” Coran says, nodding along with his hands behind his back. “King Alfor was quite in awe every time he visit. He was particularly fond of the moon that was half covered in a thin iron blanket.”

“Did she say why she didn’t want it on one of their moons?” Lance asks curiously and hums when  
Pidge shrugs.

“Not really? Except for the fact that it has been doing some strange glowing in the last few movements, which only seemed to grow today during our battle against the last of the Galra fleet.”

“We will go over the details during the meeting,” Allura declares gently, finally putting down her helmet and turning around to meet Lance’s gaze. “I would love your company during said meeting, Lance, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Lance beams, flashing her a playful wink. “I would be my honor, Princess.”

Allura rolls her eyes at the answer but there’s a faint soft smile in her lips as she squeezes Lance’s shoulder as a thank you. “Coran, please set coordinates to land over Kamen’s capital.”

“On it, Princess!”

The rest of the trip is eventful, the team ending up doing quick road trip games, courtesy of Hunk. Lance taps his chin as he tries to guess whatever the heck Shiro is trying to do, the brunet already resigned that his team will lose yet another round of charades because of Shiro’s lack of skill for acting.

By now, Lance is only shouting out random words that might be accurate along with Hunk and

Keith when suddenly there’s a sharp tug inside his stomach.

It makes him pause, eyebrow furrowed together in confusion before he brush it off and continues the game. It’s not five ticks later when he feels it yet again, this time sharper and stronger than before, the starting of a small headache in the back of his neck as the tugging grows.

“Hey, you okay?” Keith asks then, eyes narrowed in concern as he looks over Lance’s frame for any sort of injury. “Lance?”

“I’m fine,” Lance mumbles, shaking his head in hopes to get rid of the weird sensation inside him. “It’s just - it felt like…”

He doesn’t get a chance to finishing his thought before Pidge’s shout brings him out of his head. Lance turns his head to see what the commotion all about, eyes widening at the sight before him.

The bridge’s window is almost entirely covered up by one of Kamen’s moons, it’s surface just as

Coran has said it was; a thin iron cloak covering half of the planet as the rest of it being a gentle bright golden color.

The tugging feels stronger as the Castle grows closer to the moon, passing it by for them to get to the Kamen’s capital, but Lance can’t help but to reach out for it.

The moon’s gone before Lance can even voice his thoughts and then they are landing. He brushes the event off his head and focuses on the meeting.

It was nothing.

Lance plays with the edge of his sleeve as the entire team before him go over the recent topics. He should be paying attention, like everyone else is doing -

That’s a lie. Lance can clearly see Pidge sneaking several glances down her lap where her tablet lays when she thinks Shiro’s not looking and Keith doesn’t even try to hide the fact he’s playing with his marmora blade.

To be fair, they have gone over these topics four times now, but both Shiro and Alllura liked to go over them a lot of times to be sure they get everything down and nothing gets overlooked.

So, Lance allows his mind to wander, going from aching for a nap in his room to taking a nap with a certain mullet person. This is why Lance is not allowed to wander alone in his mind.

He shakes his head, stuffing in the groan that threatens to escape. In favor to ignore the feelings he has been trying to bury, Lance decides to focus on something else.

He knows exactly what.

Lance turns his head, towards the big window inside the bridge. Kamen’s land is quite the sight to behold, especially with the amount of exotic flora that even its own villagers seem to be in awe of. His eyes shift then, towards the right corner of the window where the he can barely make out the edge of the Kamen’s moon from earlier.

His stomach flips inside him as soon as he catches a glimpse of it, the same feeling he got the first time when he lay eyes on its golden surface. It feels oddly familiar, like something he knows he has felt before and something about it screams ‘Blue’, his former lion, his first partner, but Lance can’t quite place it because it’s not the same and Blue is quietly napping in her hangar right now.

“Alright, guys,” Shiro says then, spanning Lance back to the present. Lance stares as Shiro quietly turns off the hologram, the map of Kamen’s land disappearing with a quick wave of his hand. “Is there any other topic we should cover in this debrief?”

“Well, the Queen’s still quite concern about one of their moons.” Allura says, pursing her lips in worry, “She reassurances me it’s not something to be alarmed off, just an odd anomaly, but I would feel better if we still go over there and make sure there’s nothing to be worried of.”

Shiro hums. “That’s alright, we can squeeze in a small patrol with one of the lions somewhere -”

“Who, though?” Pidge asks curiously, “I’m going to be off with Matt with the rebels to update their map on Galra stake outs.”

“While Shiro fills in for Allura’s patrol on the south because of the Queen’s meeting,” Keith says, “and I gotta meet up with Hunk near the north of Kamen.”

“Yes, yes, which I would appreciate about right now.” Hunk’s voice echoes around the room before his face appears before them, his Paladin’s helmet on. “I’m running out of road games to play with  
Yellow.”

“I can do it,” Lance says then, raising his hand as volunteer. The team looks at him oddly and Lance doesn’t blame them, himself being surprised by the sudden outburst.

“I thought you were coming with me for the meeting and right after...you know.” Allura says slowly, a small pout in her lips.

Lance smiles sheepishly at her. “Aw, I’m sorry, Princess but I promise we will have our spa day tomorrow at most.”

“Spa day?” Keith mumbles in question, arching an eyebrow. Everyone turns to Allura, who crosses her arms.

“What? It’s quite the pleasant activity, especially the goo mask.”

“Ugh, lucky!” Hunks whines in the background.

“Alright, alright,” Shiro says with a small chuckle. “Lance will go over Kerman’s moon to check it out. The rest of you, you know your tasks.”

“Wanna take Red?” Keith asks, tilting his head as he pushes himself off the wall and walks over the former blue paladin. “It’s been a while since you flew him; he misses you. I can just take a pod to meet with Hunk”

Lance shakes his head with a chuckle. “You need Red to patrol Kamen’s south once you switch with Hunk. I will be fine in just a pod, samurai, relax.”

“You sure?” Shiro asks, a small frown in his lips before sighing when Lance nods firmly. “Alright, if you believe it’s not necessary, I trust your judgment.”

“Finally someone smart!” Lance jokes and grins when his team rolls their eyes fondly at him. “No worries, boss. I will be back before dinner.”

“You better because tonight it’s Goo Meatballs!” Hunk shouts form the screen, flashing a wink at his best friend when Lance cheers.

“Come on, let’s get you a pod, my boy,” Coran says, patting Lance on the shoulder and leading him out of the bridge.


	5. The Lion

“Pod 345 to Castle, over.” Lance says, one single earring from Allura’s spares hanging from his right ear as he continues talking. “Status report of Kamen’s moon: eventful and pretty much boring, it could use the excitement.”

“Maybe another time, my boy,” Coran chuckles, “one last scan over its surface and you should be good. Ready when you are.”

“Noted.” Lance hums, flying down a little closer to the surface and pressing a few buttons on the dashboard. “You getting anything, Coran?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary, I’m not,” Coran replies a tick later, humming in the throat. “Seems like you’re good to go, my boy!”

“Something’s up, though. Hard to explain it,” Lance mumbles quietly, eyebrows furrowed as he looks over the surface of the Kamen’s moon. It’s hard to point it out, but there’s a sharp tugging inside his mind as he gets closer, the familiar one he has been getting in the past few days.

Lance bites his lower lip, debating himself whenever to land on the moon or go back to the Castle.

He sighs after a few seconds, shoulders resigned as he maneuvers the pod’s handles and starts flying back to Kamen’s capital.

“Alright, Coran, I’m on my way back -”

There it is.

Lance stops short and snaps his head back to look at the moon, mouth open in shock and blue eyes wide in surprise as the same sound comes again and again; a lion’s roar echoing inside his head loud and clear like Blue’s had done the day they found her.

Lance’s dives into the moon’s surface without hesitation after that, blatantly ignoring Coran’s calling.

Lance stares at the smoke coming from the pod from a few feet away.

That could’ve gone worse.

Lance sighs, hand running down his hair. Maybe he had underestimated the moon’s gravity but their pods were made to handle any sudden changes coming from planets alike, so the fact that as soon as he was close enough to the surface, making him lose control of the pod is odd.

“Lance to Castle, do you copy?” Lance calls into his commlink, pressing down the urge to flick the small altean pendant out of nervousness. “Coran, can you hear me?”

Static is his only answer the first, second, fourth and seventh time he tries. By the tenth try, Lance resigns himself to press the distress signal on his commlink, hoping it will get through.

“Yup, that was a bad plan,” Lance groans as he drags his hands over his face. “What am I going to do -“

The same roar from before answers his question before it’s even out.

Lance frowns in confusion before his eyes narrow in determination and runs towards the calling, feet hitting the moon’s ground firmly as he gets closer and closer.

He doesn’t know where it’s taking him but somehow, Lance trust blindly on the calling and follows without a word.

He soon ends up in front of a cave, colorful flora surrounding its edge and growing larger as Lance walks deeper into it. His eyes travel every inch of the walls, mouth half open at the hurried-like drawings on the dark surface.

The more he walks the more he feels inside a deja-vu, feeling oddly familiar to be walking down a cave with Lion markings except for the missing piece of his friends being besides him.

“At least I’m not falling down a hole this time,” Lance mumbles with a twitch of a smile as his hand brushes the cave’s wall, right over the drawing of a roaring lion and suddenly he eats his words.

There’s no water that cushions his fall, instead there’s snow. Or whatever is closest to snow in this part of the universe. It feels oddly watery and soft, like a wet cotton.

Lance’s thoughts stop short when his eyes fall on the lion before him.

“I didn’t see this coming,” Lance whispers to himself as he slowly makes his way up to stand and slowly walks towards the barrier surrounding the white lion.

Its design is similar to Black and Blue’s sharp edges but enough space in between to be fast and flexible for any kind of sudden movement that might be needed. It’s bigger than Yellow on size but Lance is sure it doesn’t reach Black’s height.

“How did you get here?” Lance whispers as he steps closer, hand reaching out to touch the hard surface of the barrier before the lion’s eyes flash bright and then the barrier evaporates at his touch.

“Oh,” Lance mumbles, a giddy feeling spreading through him when the white lion echoes his surprise with a happy loud roar.

“Are you sure this is the last signal you got from Lance?” Shiro asks anxiously as he goes over Lance’s reports on his tablet. “His last update was less than a varga ago, that’s when you said he stopped answering his comm, right?”

Coran nods with a faint grimace. “That’s right; I suspect it has something to do with the moon’s gravity, not letting any kind of communication through.”

“How do we know if he’s alright then?” Keith asks, eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Shouldn’t we go after him? We can take one of the lions, we are wasting time!”

“The Queen has been already contacted, she will help us to get to the bottom of this,” Allura says strongly. “But we can get a head start as we wait. Paladins, to your –!”

“ -- is this thing even working? Hello? Most Handsome Paladin calling for the Castle, over. Hello, anyone?”

There’s a pause, a heavy sudden one that makes every single member of Team Voltron to look at each other in surprise before their eyes snap towards the dashboard in the middle of the bridge.

Coran, being the closest to it, quickly pushes the right buttons and soon enough, Lance’s face appears before them.

The brunet beams at them as they shout his name in relief, adding a small sheepish wave at the end of it. “Hi, guys.”

“Lance, buddy, where have you been! We were worried sick thinking you had been eaten or kidnapped or swollen by a moon monster or - !”

“What Hunk’s trying to say,” Shiro cuts in slowly, squeezing the younger teen’s shoulder in ressurance as he meets Lance’s eye on the screen. “Is that we couldn’t get a hold of you and got worried. Everything okay from your end?”

“More than okay,” Lance declares happily, “There’s someone you should actually meet. Look outside the window.”

The entire team does as told, their faces holding the same amount of curiosity and confusion as they turn and their eyes widen at the sight of a white lion, floating near the Castle’s window.

The happy loud roar that echoes around the bridge surprises them enough to snap them back to the present. Lance’s soft laughter following behind.

“White says ‘hi’.”


	6. Voltron

The Galra didn’t stand a chance with five lions in the first place. Adding one to the mix surely erased all of their chances entirely.

Lance cheers loudly as Voltron shoots one last laser towards the remaining Galra fleet, the rest of the team following him. Lance leans back on his seat as he watches the retreating Galra wormholing their way out.

The team re-groups on the Castle at the bridge for a small debrief. Lance is the last to arrive, helmet already out of his head before he’s tackled by two bodies slamming against his.

“Buddy, that was incredible! I didn’t know White could merge with Voltron like that, I mean? An armor? We are basically impenetrable!” Hunk shouts, shaking Lance by the shoulders, an excited smile on his smile.

“Not only that! White’s quintensese is such a level up for Voltron’s, giving every single weapon a higher rate of damage. Imagine what we can do with all of our bayards together!” Pidge adds happily, climbing over Lance’s back and dropping her chin on top of his head as she wraps her arms around his neck.

“It really was...an incredible performance, yes,” Allura giggles softly, gaze fond as she stares at Lance from the control panel. “That was amazing, Lance.”

“An event that will go on with the universe beyond our lifetimes, for sure,” Coran says proudly behind the group, eyes shining with unshed tears as he not-subtly wipes his nose. “I’m okay, I got some of the mice’s hair on my nose...and eyes.”

“You have come a long way, Lance,” Shiro says then, stepping in to squeeze the brunet’s shoulder with a happy grin. “I’m proud of you; all of us are.”

Lance’s eyes widen and his throat suddenly feels dry at the words. He chuckles wetly, waving away the sudden concern of his team.

“I’m - Thank you, guys,” Lance says softly, caressing Pidge’s arm before she lets go and gives him enough space to turn to the side, eyes meeting Keith’s fond ones not even a feet away.

“That’s my sharpshooter,” Keith whispers tenderly as he steps forwards and cups Lance’s cheeks gently, caressing the skin with his thumb.

“Indeed I am,” Lance whispers back as he leans down and meets Keith’s lips half way. He laughs into the kiss as the rest of the team steps back and playfully teases them with mocking sounds of throwing up and elementary songs.

Lance’s okay with all of that, if it meant having Keith’s lips against his own.

**Author's Note:**

> A commission by the wonderful Voltron writer Bleusarcelle. Check out her other works on her AO3 page or commission your own work here:  
> http://bleusarcellewrites.tumblr.com/post/176391672697/bleusarcelle-heeeellooooo-alright-so-i


End file.
